Which one of the following statements best expresses the main idea of the passage?
LSATstudieron July 1 at 08:52PM
More in-depth explanation for T43, Q12
Hi,
I do not entirely understand why D for Question 12 is wrong; is it because it's less specific in detail? The lecturer said it was because Paragraph 2 states the primary language at home is Spanish, but I still do not fully understand it.
Question 12: Which one of the following does the passage offer as evidence that code–switching cannot be entirely explained by situational factors?
Answer D: Puerto Rican Americans sometimes use Spanish only sparingly and for rhetorical effect in the presence of situational factors that would lead one to expect Spanish to be the primary language.
Right answer B: Code–switching sometimes occurs in conversations whose situational factors would be expected to involve the use of a single language.
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Sorry, I meant to say "I do not entirely understand why D for Question 12 is wrong; is it because it's MORE specific in detail?"
Michelleon July 16 at 04:55PM
Hi! I also had to reread the passage and answer D to understand why it was wrong. D is wrong because the details are inaccurate. The answer says, "Puerto Rican Americans sometimes use Spanish only sparingly and for rhetorical effect in the presence of situational factors that would lead one to expect Spanish to be the primary language." This answer says Spanish is expected to be used as the primary language. However, if you read the third paragraph of the passage that discusses code-switching used rhetorically, the study shows that English is expected to be the primary language in which Spanish is used sparingly. This answer is also tricky because initially, it discusses Spanish being used sparingly, and although that is accurate, it applies the wrong details from the study later in the answer choice. Hope this helped!
